Apricot crisp

 

 

I should have blogged about this when we did it back in June; however, I was so busy that I could barely see straight. Alas, I'll have to reconstruct what I did from my poor memory.

I wanted more of a "crispy crisp" than I was making a crisp with this crisp recipe. 

I decided the granola recipe I made, without the cocoa, would be perfect.

3 cups rolled oats
1/2 ground flax
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
5 tablespoons water (more if needed)
2 tsp  vanilla extract

I am pretty sure that I didn't put 3 cups of oats on that little pan of crisp, but rather that I mixed it up, put what I needed on the apricots and then baked the rest and ate it by itself. (I'm guessing cutting the recipe in 1/2 would make a great amount for the crisp.)

I don't remember how long I baked it--probably 20-25 minutes for the apricots at 350. I probably put foil over the top for a little bit so that it didn't get too crisp (aka burnt). It was good!

Bonus: If you're looking for a fun no-oil granola recipe, I recommend the one above.

Saturday morning baking: Delicious Brownies

Natalie found this recipe a while ago and we love it on special occasions. This morning, I tripled it so we can take it to a pool party for my vegan friends! It's a recipe from Minimalist Baker. Everything over there looks very yummy (not as healthy as I tend to make, but every once in a while you need stuff for parties and such). (And I didn't even modify the recipe. That's a shocker!)

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup (1 stick) non-dairy butter (such as Earth Balance)
3/4 cup natural cane or granulated sugar
2 large flax eggs (2 tbsp flaxseed + 6 Tbsp water) (put flax and water in a small bowl and let rest for 5 minutes to turn into the right texture)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
(Optional add-ins:) 1/3 cup walnuts or chocolate chips (or whatever your heart desires)


INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place a paper liner.

Place softened butter in a large mixing bowl and stir in the flax egg, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Mix well.

Add the flour (mix gently), and fold in any mix-ins - chocolate chips or walnuts are our favorite (I make half without the nuts because my 2 out of 3 girls don't yet appreciate nuts.

Scoop batter evenly into muffin tins (I usually get 8-10 muffins from a single batch) until 3/4 full and bake on the middle rack for 21-26 minutes, or until the brownies start to pull away from the sides and they spring back slightly to the touch. (I find 21-22 to be perfect... they don't seem totally done, but they are. If I let them go for 23 minutes, or longer, in my oven, they get crumbly.)

While they are baking, be sure to eat the batter left in the mixing bowl.  (This is a super important step! If you don't, my 3 helpers will be very mad at you for wasting perfectly good batter!)

Remove from oven and give them at least 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a plate or cooling rack.

Store in an airtight container to keep fresh for a couple days. Minimalist Baker suggests freezing for long-term storage. (As if we'd need to that around here! It'll be a miracle if I get all 24 brownies to the party!)

 

My house smelled so good while I was baking!

 

 

Yum!

It's  been a month since my last blog post. I'm done with my class and I return with a fun recipe of chocolate frosting from the Cupcake project.

3 cups raw cashews (soak for a couple hours)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Blend.  Eat. OMG.

Note, this is not sweet. We like it that way. Also, we always have to add more water to get it to blend into a smooth frosting. Since we're not doing anything fancy with it (mostly putting it on graham crackers or a spoon) we don't need it to be super thick.